NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - 'Bulking up' by athletes
playing sports such as American football may lead to an
increased risk for cardiovascular disease, study findings
suggest.

"Our work demonstrates a higher prevalence of metabolic
syndrome, an established cardiovascular risk factor, among
retired National Football League (NFL) linemen," said Dr. Marc
A. Miller, of Mount Sinai Medical Center, in New York. Football
linemen are position players commonly of large body size.

A clustering of heart disease and diabetes risk factors
including high blood pressure, low levels of 'good'
cholesterol, high levels of blood lipids (fats), and elevated
blood sugar and body weight make up the metabolic syndrome.

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When Miller and colleagues compared metabolic syndrome
rates among 510 retired NFL players, they found that nearly 60
percent of linemen had metabolic syndrome, compared with 30
percent of those playing other positions.

Moreover, greater than 85 percent of the linemen were
obese, as opposed to half of the non-linemen, the researchers
report in The American Journal of Cardiology.

Between February 2004 and June 2006, Miller and colleagues
assessed metabolic syndrome factors among 164 linemen and 346
non-linemen who, at the time, were 54 years old on average.
Overall, they had been NFL players for about 6 years and had
been retired for about 25 years.

Miller notes that previous research indicated increased
rates of cardiovascular death among NFL linemen compared with
non-linemen and the general population. Therefore, he and
colleagues were not surprised to also find a higher prevalence
of metabolic syndrome among football linemen.

"The NFL, like any employer, has an obligation to address
the health concerns of its employees," Miller told Reuters
Health. "Players will have to be educated about lifestyle
modification in their post-professional years," he said.

Likewise, "Student athletes need to be educated about the
potential long-term health consequences of 'bulking up' and
should be discouraged from achieving unhealthy body weights,"
Miller said.